Downgrade


I’m ditching my smartphone. After 8 years as a user the negative affects on my mental well being and my life at large are enough that I want to make a change. In the year 2021that change is no small thing. It’s oddly comical and equally frustrating how trying to simplify can be so complicated. My favorite texting phones from a decade ago are no longer supported by my provider and intentionally simplified options like the light phone II are TOO simple ($300 for a phone that can’t receive picture messages and won’t let me access my voicemail? Um, no). 

I’m looking at cameras (the feature I will miss most about the addictive super computer I carry around with me), and gps devices for my car. I’m listening to people’s reactions (“that seems a little drastic!” “Are you sure?!” “I could never do that”). This move is something I’ve been considering for the past six months. The familiar feeling that I had when I began  the long journey to quitting alcohol is back. It feels a bit daunting, which is how I know it’s time.  Growth happens when we get uncomfortable (I learned this from sobriety). My attention span is severely affected by this technology. My ability to focus on tasks, read books and just LISTEN and be present are all extremely hindered. I clock an average of 4 hours a day on my phone. That fact alone deeply disturbs me. So strange that we call it smart phone as it seems to have the opposite affect on the user. The amount of hypocrisy I feel when I limit my child’s screen time whist staring at my own screen for so long is palpable. I thought leaving social media would help with my phone use but that had proved not to be the case.

I’m not alone in this. Here are two articles detailing other people’s experiences with smart phone addiction. I recommend reading them. One woman even used the same method to quit her smart phone that she used to stop smoking!!

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/business/cell-phone-addiction.html


https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/how-and-why-i-got-rid-of-my-smartphone-1.4150057?mode=amp

I recently found an old journal entry I wrote in 2006. “I feel like I’m spending too much time on the internet,” I wrote. “I can feel the affects and I seriously need to unplug.” I smiled when I read this. If I could see 15 years into the future what would I think? 

I recognize how helpful this technology has been, especially in connecting us as we are isolating so much. Not everyone has the issues that I have with it. But a lot of people do and it has changed the way we interact with each other and how our brains are wired. I’m ready to connect with more intention, both in person and when I decide to go online. I’m ready to be more creative and I’m not creating when I’m constantly consuming information. I’m ready to take another step towards sovereignty. It’ll be an adjustment, and I am so ready for the change.



 

Comments

  1. Marie16 February 2021 at 11:44

    Good for you! Thanks for the really great articles. I was just talking with Dustin about the possibility of getting a hardwire phone the other day... probably not easy being tied to the wall...but my life is much less complicated than yours. Still thinking.... Regardless I have to cut down on social media. Same addiction only slightly less constant. Love you! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michelle Hilden16 February 2021 at 23:41

    Me and Ivan talk about this alot, but here in DK it is almost impossible to ditch the smartphone since now you can only get your train ticket on their app or you need to go the central station, they are also talking about ditching the physical travelers card and making it 100% digital. All the coorspondance from the goverment and hospitals also comes in digital form (E-boks app). but we have talked about getting old Nokia's and then just using the smartphones when needed for traveling and such.

    Love reading about all your observations and thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Selené Emrys17 February 2021 at 17:47

      Thanks for reading I love you! It is becoming increasingly hard to not have one. I will certainly have major withdrawal as I’ll be literally re wiring my brain. I’m not throwing away my iPhone though, in case I want to activate it at a later date.

      Delete

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